On Christmas Day in Arendelle
by Lindstrom
Summary: *Queen Elsa's Councilor Series.* It's Christmas! Both Anna and Elsa are getting special gifts from the men who love them, and attending their first Christmas party in forever. Rated T for one scene of Kristanna; the rest is so K-rated you'll think you're at church, because they go to church; it is Christmas, after all. Contains scriptural quotes and religious themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note 1: I'm a Christian, and that becomes blindingly obvious in this first chapter when they go to church services. Then the religious themes mostly go back to the background where they've always been – the compassion, trust, forgiveness, second chances, self-sacrifice and hope that form the backdrop for these stories. No one turns into a Bible-thumper, but God does come up once in a while from now on.**

**Author Note 2: This is part of a series, and the relationships and events from previous stories matter in this story. This story will make more sense if you've read:  
"Queen Elsa's Councilor"  
"A Touch of True Love"  
"The Unlikely Heroes of Arendelle"**

**Author Note 3: Arendelle and most of these characters belong to Disney; I'm just borrowing them. Thanks, Disney!**

* * *

**Chapter 1 – A Christmas Sermon**

"You look beautiful!" Anna gushed when she saw Elsa in her Christmas gown, which was deep red, trimmed with cream ribbon. Her pale blonde braid fell over her shoulder, sparkling with ice diamonds. Her hands were bare.

"You look beautifuller!" Elsa replied, smiling happily.

Anna laughed as she twirled, the green skirt flaring and her red braids flying. Anna's green dress had pink flowers embroidered over the bodice and fitted sleeves with lace cuffs. She and Elsa had chosen dresses that were more simple than ornate for the Christmas party in Arendelle Village later today. They didn't want to overwhelm the villagers, or draw too much attention.

Olaf ran between them towards the grand staircase. "Christmas!" he shouted. He bounced down the stairs, shouting "Christmas!" on every bounce.

"I hope he gets all his noise done with before Bishop Saholt starts services," Anna said as they followed Olaf down the stairs.

Kristoff was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. He'd finally moved into the castle, although he'd flatly refused the suite Anna wanted to give him in the same wing of the castle where the Councilors had rooms. Instead, he'd moved into the quarters used by the other Castle Guards who didn't have homes in Arendelle Village, shrugging off Anna's indignation that his room was the size of her closet. At least he was sleeping indoors.

Then the royal tailors had descended on him, repeating the refrain "Queen's orders" until he finally gave in and let them do what they wanted to do. He was wearing the result this morning. His brown trousers were tucked into black knee boots. The darker brown jacket with tails sported shoulder epaulettes and gold braid, tokens of his recent military heroism. He wore a dark gold necktie over a cream colored shirt and vest. The effect was quite striking with his brown eyes and blonde hair, which was still cut short.

Anna stared at him so hard that she tripped on the bottom stairs and he caught her. As they got lost in each other's eyes, Elsa wondered if that was really an accident. It was beginning to be a little bit difficult to spend much time around Anna and Kristoff without feeling like she was intruding on private moments.

"You look so handsome!" Anna said, fingering his necktie. "How did you get that tied right?"

"Bern," Kristoff admitted.

"What am I being accused of?" Bern asked, approaching from the direction of the Councilors' wing of the castle.

"Helping me figure out this get-up," Kristoff said.

"You look nice too, Bern," Anna said.

"Thank you, Anna. That's a beautiful dress," Bern said, bowing good morning. He wore a dark blue jacket with his Council ribbons and sash. The lighter blue shirt under the jacket matched his trousers, and he wore a black ascot. His gray eyes looked blue this morning, and his black hair curled over his forehead.

"Oh, yeah, it is a really pretty dress, Anna," Kristoff added. "You're always beautiful, even if I forget to say so."

"You look very nice this morning too. Merry Christmas," Bern said to Elsa.

She smiled politely at him and replied, "Merry Christmas." The other Councilors had all gone home for Christmas, and she hadn't expected to see Bern this morning. But of course, she knew why Bern avoided going home. She looked away self-consciously, vaguely ashamed of her behavior. They'd had such wonderful conversations the day after the Battle of Arendelle, and ever since then she'd frozen him out. He was back to calling her 'your Majesty,' and she was careful to never be around him alone. Bern cared for her, and she didn't reciprocate his feelings.

"Do you like my tie? Bern tied it for me!" Olaf announced. He'd found a red scrap of fabric, and Bern had looped it around his neck and fastened it with a gold stickpin.

"It's a good thing you're here, Bern," Anna said.

"Thank you," Bern said, but he didn't smile.

"Should we get to the chapel? We wouldn't want to be late for services on Christmas morning," Kristoff suggested, offering Anna his arm.

Anna took it in both hands. "Whenever Elsa gets there is right on time."

"True," Kristoff agreed with a laugh as he escorted Anna away, Olaf running ahead of them.

"Your Majesty," Bern said formally, offering her his arm.

"It's still all right to call me Elsa when it's just family around," Elsa said, laying her bare hand on his sleeve as lightly as she could without outright rejecting his offer.

"Elsa, then. I'm sorry," he said, looking straight ahead as he escorted her to the chapel.

Elsa nodded, but she didn't ask what he was referring to. They walked in silence to the chapel. After they'd all lit a candle by the crèche, Bern escorted Elsa to the front pew, where Kristoff and Anna were already seated. Anna was tucked into the crook of Kristoff's arm, as close to him as she could get without actually sitting on his lap. Elsa sat down, and with a tip of her head, invited Olaf to sit next to her. He scooted over and landed between Elsa and Bern, still bouncing with Christmas cheer.

Last night's Mass on Christmas Eve was the annual formal service involving candles, chanting and kneeling in prayer. Bishop Saholt had placed the Christ child in the nativity, and read the Bible's account of Christ's birth. Elsa picked up as much as she could from watching Anna, and didn't make any obvious mistakes as she participated in the sacred ritual for the first time since youngest childhood.

This Christmas morning service was less formal, and even less well-attended. Elsa had told the servants to spend the holiday at home. With the exception of a few servants who had nowhere else to go, there was hardly anyone else in the castle. Elsa stole a glance at Bern and wondered where he had been on Christmas Eve.

After singing "Adeste Fidelis," Bishop Saholt came to the pulpit, wearing his Lutheran vestments and white clerical collar. He greeted them and opened his Bible, announcing that he would take his text from First John, Chapter 4, verse 8: "_God is love_."

Olaf bounced harder. "God's a love expert too!" he said in an excited whisper.

When Elsa smiled at Olaf to soften the 'shush' she accidentally caught Bern's eye as he did the same thing. He looked away first. Elsa laced her fingers together and felt ashamed of herself. Bern had been kind to her; he'd gone out of his way to help Kristoff learn castle life; he helped Olaf with his tie. Not only that, he did a good job as a councilor, even taking extra assignments because he was always available. The only thing Bern had done wrong was to have the poor judgment to fall in love with her. Now she was sitting a few inches away from him and trying to avoid him while she listened to Bishop Saholt talk about love.

"_Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us_," Bishop Saholt read from the Bible and then looked up. "First, we accept God's love. Only then can we truly love one another as God intended. In love, as in all matters, we follow His perfect example. _Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another_. How does God love us? Is it a love laced with expectations? Of course not. God's love is a gift. He loves us for who we are right now; perfect acceptance accompanies perfect love."

Elsa blinked back tears, still staring at her hands in her lap. She'd struggled so hard with expectations; she'd spent her life trying to be the good girl she always had to be. There was an ideal version of herself just out of sight. If only she could become that ideal Elsa, then she could relax and believe people could love her. The idea of a love without expectations was foreign to her.

"Why is this so hard to accept?" Bishop Saholt continued. "We doubt God's ability to accept us as we are, but only because we struggle to accept ourselves as we are. Our love is not perfect, but God's is."

That put a new twist on her expectations for herself. She was the one rejecting this flawed, human version of Elsa, not God. He wasn't waiting for her to become that imaginary, ideal Elsa before he loved her.

"The enemy of love is not hate; it is fear. Fear has no place in God's perfect love, either in God's love for us, or in the love we should feel for each other. _There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love._ What is this fear that contaminates our ability to love each other? We all have a fear that torments us. Name yours. Is it fear of rejection? Fear of failure? Fear of success?" Bishop Saholt looked around the sparse congregation with a fatherly smile.

"I don't condemn any of you; I have no right to cast the first stone. I have my own fears, just as any of you do. I have learned that only the perfect love of God can cast out fear. Indeed, God's perfect love breaks through at the point of our deepest fear, transforming it into such perfect trust that we are compelled to acknowledge the hand of God in this most private miracle."

Prickles were racing up the back of Elsa's neck. Her powers were the source of her greatest fear. Fear sparked uncontrollable outbursts of ice and snow that wrought destruction. From Anna she'd learned that love and acceptance were the only way to control her powers. And here was Bishop Saholt confirming everything she'd learned. God was helping her, and she hadn't even noticed it. She'd thought all that love was coming from Anna. But of course, Anna was getting all that love from somewhere herself. Anna's ability to sacrifice herself for the people she loved was a powerful connection to the perfect love of God.

She looked at her hands again. God's perfect love breaks through at the point of our deepest fear. It wasn't just her powers. Her deepest fear was that because of her powers, she would never truly be part of the human race, that she would always be cut off from the people around her. And yet she remembered those flashes of insight when she'd fallen into the hearts of those she loved best and realized God was helping her connect with people, even while she still had these strange powers. God wasn't waiting for an ideal Elsa who either didn't have powers, or had perfect control of her powers. He was loving and helping her right now, just as she was. She stopped trying to blink back the tears and just let them fall.

Olaf passed her a handkerchief and she took it, dabbing at her tears before she thought to wonder where Olaf had possibly gotten a handkerchief. She examined it. There was a "B" monogrammed in the corner.

~###~

Elsa walked out of the chapel thinking of God's love and acceptance, and wishing that Bishop Saholt had mentioned the fear of hurting people. That was the other reason she wasn't like the rest of the human race – she could hurt people even if she didn't intend to.

"Wasn't that an amazing sermon?" Anna asked as the five of them left the chapel together. "I sometimes drift off during sermons, but this one sounded like every word was alive."

"I suppose it's because we've been living it these past six months," said Elsa.

"It makes you think about what your deepest fears are, and wonder how they could ever be turned into trust," Bern said.

"That was strange he mentioned a fear of success. Who fears success?" Anna asked with a laugh.

Kristoff gave her a confused look and didn't say anything.

"I'm not afraid of anything!" Olaf boasted. "Love experts don't have to worry about fear."

Elsa smiled at him and thought that was true. Olaf had no fears and no worries. He was nothing but happiness and true love.

"Bern, are you going to be here all day?" Olaf asked him. "All the rest of the Councilors went home. Is the castle your home?"

Bern hesitated before answering. "I'm going to see my parents tomorrow. I'm selfish enough that I wanted to enjoy Christmas Day, so I stayed here. The castle is more my home than anywhere else."

Elsa looked at the pensiveness in his eyes and thought he wasn't really enjoying Christmas Day here either. There was more than one way she could hurt people. She'd never struck Bern with magical snow, but he was still hurting because she didn't love him back, and there wasn't anything she could do about that either. She could stop being icy and distant with him though. He was a friend, even if she couldn't allow him to be more than that. But before she could say anything to him, Kristoff jumped in.

"I'm glad you're here. There's only about ten of us guards here today, and it looks like we've got thousands of sacks of grain to load up. Want to come work?" Kristoff asked him.

"Sure!" Bern said, with the first real smile she'd seen from him that day.

"I'm so excited about that!" Anna said, bouncing like Olaf.

The grain they'd purchased from Lingarth had sailed into the harbor last week behind an icebreaker ship. An anonymous benefactor had supplied a substantial cash donation, and then they'd shipped back cut stone from the demolished north wing of the castle to help pay for it. The Castle Guards had spent the past week unloading the ship and getting the grain bagged for delivery. Everyone in Arendelle was getting a sack of grain for Christmas today. They already knew the grain was coming, but that only served to increase the excitement. Food was running low this year. Knowing she could help undo some of the damage she'd caused when she'd frozen their crops at her coronation gave Elsa real joy on this Christmas Day and she didn't have to force the smile she gave Bern and Kristoff.

"I'll make the announcement when the carts are loaded and ready to go," Elsa said. "I'm as excited as Anna. It will be so wonderful to be able to give everyone a Christmas gift!"

"You ladies are welcome to go to the village party without us. We'll be over as soon as we can," Kristoff promised.

Anna landed a kiss on his cheek and then caught Elsa by the arm. "Let's go! I'm dying to see Tyra again! There's going to be music, dancing, flowers, food and everything else. A Christmas party! A real, honest Christmas party for the first time in forever!"

They stopped at the castle's main doors for cloaks, hats and gloves. Elsa put on a cloak too. She wanted to look like everyone else today, and fit in. Over these past several months, she'd gotten comfortable with being queen and filling her official role. This party today was her chance to see if she could be an ordinary person too. She was even wearing boots instead of slippers, just like everyone else. She pulled on her gloves as Anna got her bonnet in place, then they headed out the door together, Olaf bouncing ahead of them in his hurry to get to the party.

* * *

**In his sermon, Bishop Saholt quotes a few phrases from a lengthier series of scriptures, found in 1 John 4:7-21 (KJV). **

**This is 8 chapters long. The final chapter will post New Year's Day. Merry Christmas!**


	2. Chapter 2 - A Christmas Project

**Chapter 2 – A Christmas Project**

"You're going home tomorrow, huh?" Kristoff asked Bern as they headed down to the storage sheds near the harbor on the castle island. The harbor was frozen in, spotted with ice fishing shacks. Outside the breakwater, the fjord moved sluggishly, ice floes bumping up against each other in the cold water. The icebreaker ship that had opened the way for the ships bringing Lingarth's grain delivery had already departed.

"I may as well get it over with," Bern said. "One must keep up appearances, after all."

"How come your parents don't like you?" Kristoff asked.

"It's more complicated than that. My mother wants me around all the time, even though I've ruined her life and am the worst son in the world. It doesn't really make sense until you've lived it," Bern said.

"So you stick around the castle hoping that Elsa will look at you?"

"That was a really low blow, Kristoff."

"Sorry. What happened with her? I thought you were at least friends for a while," Kristoff said.

"I don't know what went wrong. I think I said too much too soon and scared her off. I keep wanting to ask her what happened, but then I lose my nerve," Bern admitted.

They got to the storage sheds near the dock. Kristoff recognized several other Castle Guards already at work loading bags of grain onto carts. Some were in uniform, others were in civilian finery. Lieutenant Almar was in uniform and Kristoff checked in with him.

"Find an empty cart and fill it with grain sacks," Almar told him.

"I'm here to work too," Bern said.

"Thank you, sir, and Merry Christmas," Almar said with a salute. Lieutenant Almar was in his mid-thirties, and completely devoted to his career. Kristoff wasn't surprised that he had nowhere else to go and nothing else to wear on Christmas Day.

Kristoff returned the salute and walked into the storage shed. He and Bern each shouldered a heavy sack of grain and headed to the end of the row where there was an empty cart.

"So my romantic hopes are in shambles; how are yours?" Bern asked.

They dropped the grain sacks into the carts and Kristoff paused before heading back for another one and an excited grin spread over his face. "Want to see?"

Bern grinned back at him. "Is that where you were when you left last week?"

"No, last week I dropped in on Gustav at his estate. This is where I was when I was gone for three weeks last month. I was trying out my new sled too, but this is the other reason I needed to head up to the mountains," Kristoff pulled a small velvet bag out of his pocket and handed it to Bern.

Bern upended it and the ring dropped into his palm. He looked at it closely and then his compliment died on his lips and he gave Kristoff a puzzled look. "No offense to our local jeweler, but he's not capable of a setting like this. And if you don't mind my asking, where did you get the money for a diamond that size?"

"Me. Rocks. I've got friends," Kristoff said smugly. "I had to talk them down from what they initially wanted to give me, actually."

"You got this from the trolls?"

"Think of it as a first generation family heirloom, since I don't have any old heirlooms. And yeah, they've got piles of this stuff," Kristoff said.

"Piles of?"

"Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, what do you call the blue ones?"

"Sapphires."

"Yeah, sapphires too. And lots of gold, silver and copper. I had to insist on gold for the ring because they think copper is so much prettier. The jewels are what's left over after they make a new fire crystal for the necklaces they wear. You haven't seen those, have you? Trixie and Vixie haven't earned their fire crystals yet. The adults have five or six each, or more. After they chisel out the prism they want, they keep the chips because they sparkle in the sun. Bulda used to give me handfuls of them to play with when I was a kid," Kristoff said.

Bern stared at him. "And we're all thinking you grew up in poverty."

"You can't eat diamonds," Kristoff pointed out. "I didn't know people would trade food for those things until a few years ago, and by that time I could earn my own food."

Bern put the ring back in the velvet bag and handed it to Kristoff, who pocketed it. "Would you mind taking a solemn oath to never mention that to anyone else as long as you live?"

"Say what?"

"Kristoff, you get that right now, we're the strange cousins of Europe and nobody wants to talk to us, much less do business with us, right? There's a certain safety in that. We don't have anything anyone else wants, and we've got weird stuff going on here. People avoid us, especially now that we trounced Hamar with some of that weird stuff. If word gets out that there are piles of jewels and precious metals up in our mountains, and they're available without the expense and time of digging a mine, can you picture what will happen?" Bern said.

"Oh."

"Oh," Bern echoed with a nod. "When Gustav has accused you of completely destroying Arendelle's foreign policy, he doesn't know the half of it. You could wipe us out, Kristoff. If the market gets flooded with jewels and gold, our economy goes haywire and then implodes, and then we get invaded. You really are more dangerous than Elsa in a lot of ways, you know that?"

"Oh," Kristoff said again.

"If anyone asks, including Anna, you got that ring from France through my contacts, and I helped you pay for it, understand?" Bern put both hands on Kristoff's shoulders and stared him down. "I'm serious about this. If word gets out, it won't only blow apart Arendelle, but your troll friends are going to have a hard time when humans invade their valley too."

"I didn't think about that," Kristoff confessed.

"I can help you think," Bern said, letting him go. "Have you thought about it now?"

"Sure." Kristoff wiped his sweaty hands on his trousers and reached for another sack of grain. "Hey, can I ask you something really weird?"

Bern grabbed another sack of grain and they walked back to their cart. "You're an endless fountain of weirdness. Sure, lay another one on me."

"You know Bishop Saholt's sermon this morning? Did you think it was strange that he mentioned a fear of success as something that could be a problem?" Kristoff asked. He dropped the grain sack and brushed chaff off of his new finery.

Bern snorted. "Yeah, that's sure not one I have to deal with."

Kristoff didn't say anything as they made another couple of round trips with grain.

Bern went on, "Of course, I haven't had any successes to speak of, and you have."

"Bern, people treat me differently now. It's like they think I'm some sort of hero who can solve any problem and never make a mistake," Kristoff said. "And I know it sounds weird, but that freaks me out. I mean, what's going to happen when I blow it? Then everyone will be mad at me. I never asked them to think I was amazing – it just happened. And I'm not all that great."

"You pulled off something pretty amazing at the Battle of Arendelle," Bern pointed out.

"How come they don't treat Anna like this, then? What she did was a hundred times more amazing than what I did, and it seems like life for her is pretty much like it was before. Everything has changed for me," Kristoff said, throwing down another sack of grain.

"Anna was already a princess, and that's as special as it gets," Bern said. "You went from nobody to hero. Besides, Anna's heroism had a lot to do with Elsa's strange powers, which no one likes to think about. Your heroism was more ordinary, if that makes any sense. People can picture themselves in your role a lot easier than they can identify with what Anna did."

Kristoff stopped by the cart as he dropped in another sack of grain. The exercise was making him hot, even though the winter air was cold. He paused to take off his cloak and drape it over the cart's seat. Bern did the same, and used his scarf to wipe sweat from his hairline before they headed back to the pile of grain sacks.

"Sometimes I can't breathe very well. It feels like Sven is sitting on my chest. That's happened to me most of my life, but it's gotten worse now that I have to be around people so much. I can't handle being around people very well," Kristoff confessed. "I might have to leave next week too, just to get up to the mountains where I can breathe easier."

"That will go over well with Anna," Bern said drily. "You propose, then you leave. How are you going to handle being married to a princess if you can't handle being around people?"

"I don't know," Kristoff admitted. "There's that fear of success coming up again. Some days I want to go back to being a nameless nobody whose biggest fear is falling through the ice into a lake and freezing to death. That's a pretty easy thing to deal with, in a lot of ways."

"An endless fountain of weirdness, that's you," Bern commented. "So you go up to the mountain and breathe? I thought you were hauling ice." They trudged back out of the storage sheds and towards the carts, snow squeaking under their boots.

"Well, yeah, I love hauling ice. And it helps me breathe. If there's not any work to do at the ice lakes, I run up the mountain, or climb a cliff, or race Sven, whatever makes it easier to breathe. I'm up there longer than the other ice harvesters," Kristoff admitted.

"You know most people hold still when they have trouble breathing, right? Exercise makes it harder to breathe for us normal humans," Bern pointed out.

Kristoff dumped a grain sack and picked up a handful of snow and threw it, catching Bern on the shoulder. "I have to make myself tired enough that my brain shuts off; then I can breathe."

"Mm-hmm, so it isn't breathing, it's thinking. You're up in the mountains trying to stop thinking so you can breathe instead," Bern said. He pitched a snowball back at Kristoff and missed.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of it that way," Kristoff said. He side-armed a snowball at Bern and hit him in the chest. "You normal humans can think and breathe at the same time, can you?"

"It's a talent I picked up as an infant," Bern said.

Kristoff plowed into him and knocked him over. Bern threw him off into the snow. Another Castle Guard paused to give them a strange look and they got to their feet, brushing snow off their Christmas finery before heading back to the shed for another sack of grain.

"So why don't you stay here and breathe? Climb the castle walls or something?" Bern suggested.

"Things get worse if I try to stay around, I'm finding. I do things that are worse than leaving. Like up in the mountains when Gustav wanted me to be there when he delivered the demand for reparations to Hamar, I nearly set off a duel because I couldn't keep my mouth shut. I told you about that, and you laughed, but it wasn't funny because I didn't mean to do it. I knew I couldn't handle being around people right then, but I couldn't get out of the assignment," Kristoff explained. "Gustav was pretty mad at me."

"I have a hard time picturing Gustav mad at anyone," Bern said.

"Well, in the most diplomatic way possible, Gustav ripped my head off," Kristoff said. "And the first time I spent time with Elsa, did she ever tell you about that?"

Bern shook his head, dropped his bag of grain into the cart and leaned against the cart to listen rather than heading back for another sack. Kristoff threw his grain sack down too.

"I knew I shouldn't have stuck around, but Anna insisted, and I can't tell her no. So I go on this picnic with them, and I end up making Elsa cry. I made both of them cry, actually," Kristoff confessed. "The thing is, I knew I wasn't in any condition to be around people."

"You made Elsa cry?" Bern demanded. "What did you do?"

"I picked on her. Then I yelled at her for hurting Anna," Kristoff said.

Kristoff didn't even see it coming, but suddenly he was staggering backwards, gasping for breath and holding his stomach. His heel caught on a chunk of ice and he fell. He sprang back up, ready to hit Bern, before he caught himself. The other guards started to come over, then stopped as Kristoff waved them off.

"All right, fine, I deserved that. Elsa didn't hit me; she forgave me," Kristoff said. "She and Anna are both pretty amazing that way."

"Don't take advantage of them, Kristoff," Bern said, still angry.

"I'm not trying to! Will you listen to me! I'm trying to tell you that sometimes I can't be around people! So I just take off and stay in the mountains until I feel like I can trust myself not to make a girl cry, or ruin Arendelle's diplomatic relations, or whatever else I shouldn't do. But the more I do things the right, the worse it's going to be when I do something wrong! Don't you get it? I don't want to be like this but I can't fix it! Do you just want to tell me to try harder? Because that's not working out so well either," Kristoff said, the frustration with himself erupting out of him.

"Is there something I can help with?" Lieutenant Almar asked as he approached.

"We're going to take a break for a few minutes," Bern said. He grabbed Kristoff by the shoulders and shoved him away from the carts and around the corner of the storage sheds. Kristoff was gulping air and shuddering. Bern turned his back and gazed at the wintry blue sky to give Kristoff time to get himself together.

"Hey, Kristoff," Bern said over his shoulder, "Here's a question for you. If you were Elsa, how often would you freeze the whole world?"

"About four times a day," Kristoff admitted. He was bent over with his hands on his knees, still gulping air. Then he started brushing dust, chaff and snow off his new finery.

"Me too," said Bern. His shoulders relaxed and he shook his head "Listen to me lecture you about being around more for the people who need you. I skipped Christmas with my parents because I can't meet my mother's expectations. I'm home for two days and I get so antsy I have to leave even though I know it hurts them that I don't stay longer."

Kristoff stared at him. "Yeah, like that. Do you ever start feeling like you can't breathe?"

"No, I can always breathe. But I don't eat much when I go home. I spend the whole time trying not to vomit," Bern confessed.

"I can always eat, but I have to get away or I can't breathe," Kristoff said.

"You and Elsa are a lot alike, you know that? You both run scared from people and end up with a pile of ice," Bern said.

"Yeah, I noticed that," Kristoff said. "I figure the only reason Anna puts up with me is because she's so used to Elsa."

"Lucky you."

Kristoff nodded.

"When are you going to tell Anna all this?" Bern asked him, tossing snow at him.

"Three days after never," Kristoff said, throwing a snowball hard at Bern. He missed, and it hit the back of the storage shed. "She hates it when I leave. If I told her I'm always going to leave whether she likes it or not, she'd get mad at me."

"Hey! I've got a great idea! Why don't you go in your room and shut the door? Then Anna can knock on the door for the next thirteen years and you can refuse to answer her," Bern shot at him.

"I don't have much of a door."

"That mountain makes a pretty good substitute."

"I don't even know what to say. I can't breathe when I spend too much time around people. How weird is that?"

"It's thinking, not breathing, remember?" Bern corrected him.

"Oh, that makes it even better. Anna's so smart. So I get to tell her it's too bad I'm not more stupid than I already am," Kristoff said, rubbing his face with both hands.

Bern kicked snow at him. "Because Anna just hates it when people need her, right? I mean, you tell her that you're worried about something and you need some love and understanding and she's going to tell you to get lost. Yep, that's Anna all right. Whatever. Stop underestimating her."

Kristoff pitched another snowball at Bern, catching him in the chest again, feeling the tension of having said too much about himself. Like it always did when he couldn't immediately get away, the fear of having been too open translated into anger. "You've got a sarcastic streak, you know that? Why do you even care? Just leave me alone."

"Kristoff, I told you once that you're about the same age my little brother would be if he'd lived. You caught that, right?"

Kristoff shrugged. "I had a younger brother that died too."

"Don't you wish you had him back?" Bern asked.

"Only every day. My sister too. Parents, people like that," Kristoff shrugged again, trying to make it not matter so much. Bishop Saholt had nearly set him off this morning with the unexpected understanding, then he'd spilled his guts to Bern and now he was angry because he could feel tears pricking the back of his eyes.

"So I found a brother. He can be really thick in the head sometimes, but I still like having a younger brother again," Bern said.

"You did?" Kristoff asked, then puzzled it out. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

"I need to go," Kristoff said, turning away and pretending to comb his fingers through his hair so he could wipe his eyes on his sleeve.

"Sure you do. Talk to her anyway, all right?"

"Lord Councilor?" Lieutenant Almar asked, coming around the corner of the storage sheds. "The grain is ready for delivery, if you would care to alert Queen Elsa to make the announcement."

"I'm on my way," Bern said.

When Kristoff glanced at Bern as he walked away and saw Bern wiping his face too, he decided he really would talk to Anna.

* * *

**So I just had Kristoff confess to anxiety attacks. Whaddaya think?**


	3. Chapter 3 - A Christmas Party

**Chapter 3 – A Christmas Party**

Elsa stayed half a step behind Anna as they approached the marketplace, which was bustling with people in their Christmas finery and foodsellers and merchants in the booths. When she'd ordered the north wing of the castle torn down, some of the stone had made its way to the marketplace. There were stone counters and benches now, as well as a new stone arch that led to the Village Green, where they could hear musicians. Olaf went bounding into the crowd.

"It's Princess Anna!" people called out as they approached. Anna was mobbed by children and adults alike as Elsa hung back with her tiny smile on her face, grateful that Anna was able to take the brunt of the socializing.

"Will you tell us a story?"

"It's so good to see you, your Highness!"

"What a beautiful dress!"

"Where's Kristoff?"

"I told you she'd come!"

A chorus of welcome rose from the crowd as Anna smiled, laughed and tried to reply to everyone at once. Ever since the Battle of Arendelle, Anna was everyone's favorite royal, certainly more approachable than her sister.

Elsa edged her way back out of the crowd and went to see the goods the merchants had on display. There was no reason to make it quite so obvious that no one had any friendly greetings for her. She stopped at a display of knitted scarves and shawls, listening to the woman talk about how warm they were, before moving on. Elsa didn't need anything warm. She did smile and nod at the woman, and wished she could chatter like Anna.

There were painted wood necklaces, nutcrackers, and small carved crosses for sale. Elsa realized she hadn't brought any money. She wished she could buy some of these trinkets to help out the merchants, and she didn't have a penny with her.

"Your Majesty," said a woman.

Elsa looked over. The woman was holding a tapestry of blue, woven with white snowflakes.

"It's very beautiful," Elsa said politely.

A man stepped up, also holding a tapestry with a snowscape presided over by a woven moon. The deep blue set off the white beautifully.

"They're very fine," Elsa said, sidling away.

A third weaver joined them, and unfolded a small tapestry with a single brilliant yellow sunflower woven against a summer blue sky with a yellow tasseled border.

"Oh," Elsa breathed out, pulling off her glove and reaching to touch the sunflower. Sunflower petals looked the way Elsa imagined heat would feel, if she could feel warmth or heat.

"It looks like summer," Olaf said reverently, as he stopped bouncing around.

The weaver draped the tapestry over his arm for Elsa's inspection as the other weavers folded up their tapestries in disappointment. She spread her hand flat against the soft cloth of a petal and wished she could feel warmth the same way she could feel softness. She was so close to being human, but warmth was still on the other side of the barrier between her and humanity.

"It's very fine, Goodman," Elsa said, collecting herself.

"Von, your Majesty," he replied with a bow.

"Goodman Von," Elsa said.

"Your wife sells raspberries!" Olaf announced.

Von smiled at Olaf as Elsa ran her fingers along the border tassels. "Yes, Flora sells raspberries. She has a crate of jam for sale today."

"Olaf talks about her all the time!" Elsa said. "What a kind woman. I believe you have a baby too?"

Von waved his wife over. "This is Flora, and our daughter Freya."

"Who is no longer a baby!" Elsa exclaimed. "What a darling little girl." Elsa bent over to see the golden-haired toddler, holding out her gloved fingers. The toddler took Elsa's fingers and tried to suck on them.

"No, no," Flora said gently, pulling the baby back.

"She's not shy at all, is she?" Elsa said.

"Not one bit," Von said proudly.

"Papa is busy right now," Flora said, picking up her daughter.

Elsa turned back to the sunflower tapestry. It was impractical and unnecessary, but she couldn't stand the thought of not buying it. She would hang it over the fireplace in her sitting room, where she could see sunflower petals and imagine that she could feel warmth. "May I leave you a writ of payment? I'm afraid I didn't bring any money with me."

"Of course, your Majesty," Von said. "I'll have it delivered to the castle tomorrow."

Elsa thanked him, then cooed at his daughter again.

"Elsa, can I have some raspberry jam?" Olaf asked.

"Of course you can," Elsa said. "Just put it on the writ of payment."

She talked about the baby and the weather for a few minutes and then Von thanked her for her patronage and went back to his booth. Elsa was proud of herself. She'd had an entire conversation with someone she didn't know about a topic that had nothing to do with government, and Anna hadn't even needed to help her.

"Come see the slide, Elsa!" Olaf said, tugging on her hand.

Elsa followed Olaf through the stone arch into the Village Green. Musicians in the gazebo picked out a lively tune for the few couples dancing on the hard packed snow. Friends greeted each other, sipping mugs of hot chocolate or munching on fried fish or Christmas candy. At the edge of the Green, children had piled up the snow into a slide and were taking turns on sleds and toboggans. The gentle slope didn't send them very far, but judging from the shrieks of happiness, that hadn't discouraged anyone from sliding.

"Watch me, Elsa!" Olaf called out, dropping her hand and running towards the slide. He looked back to make sure she could see him, then he flopped on his belly and skidded down. She waved at him when he popped up at the bottom.

She walked over and the happy noise died down as she got closer to the children.

"It's Queen," someone whispered.

"She makes monsters if you're bad," another one warned.

"No, she doesn't," Olaf objected, indignant. "She makes the most beautiful castle in the whole world. And she makes me."

A little girl approached and tugged on Elsa's red skirt. Elsa couldn't tell if the girl was chubby, or if she was just bundled up in far too many warm layers. "Queen, make a castle!" she ordered Elsa.

"A castle! A castle!" the children shouted.

"Oh, well, I," Elsa started, looking around for someone to help her. Instead, the adults were starting to drift over, and some of them looked worried.

"Yep, the most beautiful castle in the whole world," Olaf affirmed. "She can do it." Olaf waddled over and took her hand, looking up at her. "Can't you, Elsa?"

Elsa wished Anna was here, but then she thought she could try something this small on her own. "Move out of the way, children," she said.

Elsa took off her glove and let her gaze roam over the children, who were looking at her with excitement and anticipation, willing to give her another chance to make a castle instead of a monster. She thought of a dollhouse she'd had as a child, and how much she'd wished it was big enough that she could live in it too, not just her dolls. And then she thought of how much she loved Olaf.

The snow by her feet began to swirl. She waved her hand around the circles, guiding the snow and sculpting it. Walls sprouted, as high as her waist. Then turrets, a peaked roof, and doors on every side. With a flourish, she added Arendelle's royal crest to the walls, then put her glove back on.

"Queen made a castle!" the children shouted as they rushed it.

"It doesn't look like the one on the North Mountain," Olaf observed.

"I needed one that would fit on the Village Green," Elsa told him, but Olaf was already running to join the children who were exploring the new snow castle.

Adults were walking towards the snow castle. Several stopped by her, clearly wishing they could say something, but unsure of the protocol of addressing the queen directly.

"I used the snow on the ground. It will melt when the weather warms," Elsa said, giving them permission to respond.

"It's very nice," a man offered.

"The children are enjoying it," someone else said.

A tussle broke out as too many children tried to get in at the same time.

"Perhaps you could make a second one?" a mother suggested.

Elsa looked around at the crowd. Some of them were smiling at her, looking as excited as the children. She could see fear on a few faces, but not many.

Elsa swirled up a second castle. As every child in Arendelle stampeded to the Village Green, Elsa made a third castle.

~###~

"I know it's Christmas, but is there any special reason you can't stop giggling today?" Anna asked Tyra. Anna was sitting on the stone counter where Tyra had holly sprigs and mistletoe laid out for purchase. One of those holly sprigs was already pinned to Anna's cloak, and they'd been talking for half an hour before Anna decided Tyra was overly giddy.

Tyra giggled again, putting her hands to her mouth. Her dark brown hair was curled into ringlets that bounced softly on her shoulders. Her cloak was plain brown homespun, but the ribbons that tied her curls back were as green as Anna's skirt. "Zander's talking to father right now," she said with a squeal. She blinked as her eyes shone with tears. "Oh, Anna, I never knew I could be this happy."

"Zander? Councilor Alan's son?" Anna asked. She remembered meeting him at the castle during the Battle of Arendelle. Tyra had mentioned him several times in the two months since then.

Tyra nodded. "We have you to thank for it, too. Do you remember when you left with Kristoff during the Battle of Arendelle, you told Zander to come help tell the stories to the children? You said, 'do anything Tyra tells you to do.' Do you remember that?"

"Not the exact words," Anna admitted.

"Well, I do, and so does Zander. I quote you a lot, actually. I think he'd do it anyway, but it's sweet to have our own private joke about when we first met," Tyra said with a happy sigh.

"He's talking to your father," Anna said slowly, beginning to put it all together.

Tyra bounced and her ringlets swung. "It will be a year or more before we can marry, but I don't care how long it takes. I'm so happy!"

Anna's smile spread across her face and her eyes lit up. "That's so wonderful!"

"It is!" Tyra exulted. "Do you want to hear something silly? I used to like Kristoff. I was actually jealous of you, if you can believe it. But none of that matters now. Zander is the one for me. Kristoff is nice and all that, but he's just not home enough. Zander is going to be a carpenter like his father, and he'll have a shop right below our house so he'll never be gone. I think that will suit my temperament better. It's sweet you can be so patient with Kristoff leaving all the time. I think I'd get angry at him."

Anna's smile faltered just a bit. "He's not gone as much as he used to be, now that he's in the Castle Guard. He's been here two weeks now." That was the longest Kristoff had ever stayed around. Of course, he'd be around a lot more often if they ever made things official.

"Only two weeks!" Tyra exclaimed. "I couldn't live without seeing Zander every day!"

Anna looked away. She wanted that too. Kristoff had taken off with that new sled as soon as Alan had finished it and been gone for almost three weeks. She'd counted all nineteen days and cried more than she wanted to admit to know that he could stay away from her that long. If he'd just propose, and admit he wanted to marry her, they could work out this issue and he could stay home all the time too. Something wasn't fair, but she still wanted to be happy for her friend.

"Do you need help with your trousseau? I can embroider pillowcases," Anna offered.

"I'd love that!" Tyra said, climbing up on the counter next to Anna to hug her.

"Queen made a castle!"

Anna looked around. The children in the marketplace were running towards the Village Green as word spread about some sort of excitement. Anna and Tyra followed them. On the Green, Anna stopped and stared at the three child-sized snow replicas of Arendelle Castle on the west edge of the Green.

"My goodness!" Tyra said.

Anna started to laugh, and spotted Elsa a few yards away, where she was actually talking to people. She linked arms with Tyra and walked over.

"Merry Christmas, your Highness," people greeted her.

"Merry Christmas indeed!" Anna replied. "That's a nice gift for the children, Elsa."

"I always envied my dolls and wished I'd had a dollhouse big enough for me," Elsa said.

"Me too, your Majesty!" a woman said, then looked abashed.

"Do you think they'd let us look inside?" another woman said, and they walked over to the castles to ask the children for permission to play with them.

Elsa smiled and shrugged, her blue eyes alight.

"Your Majesty, may I offer you a holly sprig?" Tyra said.

"I'd love that, Tyra. And you can call me Elsa. It's a bit strange to be called 'your Majesty' by someone Anna likes as much as she likes you," Elsa replied.

"Of course, Elsa, your Majesty," Tyra said.

Anna and Elsa exchanged smiles behind Tyra's back as they walked back to the marketplace counter where Tyra had her holly and mistletoe displayed.

Tyra picked one up, but instead of pinning it to Elsa's cloak, she said, "May I put this in your braid?"

"I suppose."

Elsa was the only person Anna could see who wasn't wearing a warm hat. Tyra tucked the holly sprig into her braid, next to her ear, where the red berries accented the color in Elsa's cheek.

"It looks very nice, Elsa," Anna said.

"Do you think so?" Elsa said, turning, letting her fingers explore the decoration in her hair as her happiness continued to light up her eyes and paint a blush along her cheek.

Anna saw Bern walking towards them, and then he stopped and stared at Elsa as she fingered the green leaves in her hair. Well! Anna had no idea Bern felt that way about Elsa, but there was no mistaking the stark adoration on his face. Anna put her hands to her mouth and watched Bern watch Elsa. How perfect! How completely perfect!

He caught Anna looking at him and erased the look into embarrassment. He cleared his throat and straightened his ascot. By the time Elsa noticed him, he was wearing a properly dignified expression again.

"Your Majesty, the grain is loaded and we're ready for the announcement," Bern said.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Elsa exclaimed, her general happiness overflowing into a genuine smile for Bern. "May I impose on you to escort me to the gazebo?"

Anna bounced as she watched the effect of Elsa's smile on Bern as he offered her his arm. This was even better than Tyra's announcement! She followed them back to the Village Green where the musicians fell silent as Elsa approached the gazebo. Bern escorted her to the stairs and stayed on the Green. The gazebo was already overflowing with people. Elsa exchanged a few words with the man who had been playing a trumpet. He then called people to attention.

As Elsa began to tell people about the grain that they all knew was being distributed today, Anna sidled up to Bern.

"Well?" she said gleefully.

Bern bit his lip and gave her an uncertain look.

"How long have you been in love with my sister, hmm?" Anna said, shaking his arm in excitement.

"Please, Anna," he said, still not looking very happy.

"Oh, come on, Bern! It's wonderful! I'm excited for you! Do you think she'll dance with you today? I mean, I know she doesn't like dancing, but she ought to dance with you! I'll tell her she has to!"

"She won't dance with me; please don't force the issue," Bern said.

"Bern!" Anna wailed. "Stop being shy!"

Elsa was nearing the end of the announcement. Bern bent his head towards Anna and said softly, "She doesn't return my regard. Please don't do anything to make things more awkward than they already are."

"She knows you like her?" Anna asked, puzzled.

Bern nodded. "I tipped my hand too soon. She's made it plain she doesn't care for me the same way. I'm trying to maintain enough shreds of dignity that I can still serve as councilor. Please, Anna, please don't make this worse."

Anna's whole face fell as she realized Bern was serious. He looked so miserable right now. "Well, I'll dance with you!"

That won her half a smile. "Thank you. I think I've unsettled Kristoff enough for one day, though, without dancing with his lady love."

Applause and cheers were ringing out over the Village Green as Elsa finished speaking. She called for volunteers to help distribute the bags of grain and people began to step up. Through the stone arch, Anna could see horse-drawn carts pulling up in the marketplace. Some carts stayed for distribution throughout Arendelle Village, while others turned south towards the road that led to the mountain hamlets and hollows.

"Don't give up on her, Bern. She's just shy. You know that, right? You aren't going to go marry someone else, right?" Anna said, shaking his arm again.

"There's no one else that would want to marry me once they talk to my mother," Bern said ruefully.

"Be patient, Bern!" Anna said, worried that Elsa would send Bern away. Then what would she do? Marry some horrible foreign prince who would probably be twenty years older than she was and only interested in her rank? Marriage could be so frightening for girls born to royal families. That was part of the reason she was so impatient for Kristoff to propose. What if he left her and she had to marry for political reasons instead? The thought made her sick.

"Oh, I have no problem with patience, Anna. When I was young, I once spent an entire week holding still in a meadow just to see if I could get a deer to trust me enough to come into the meadow while I was there," Bern told her.

"Seriously?"

Bern shrugged. "I didn't have many friends as a child."

"Did it work?"

"Yes."

Anna sighed in relief. "Good."

Elsa was talking to volunteers as Lieutenant Almar approached the gazebo. He saluted, and Elsa deferred to him to organize the grain distribution.

From the other direction, Anna saw Kristoff coming towards them, only to be interrupted about fifty times by people who wanted to talk to him. Ever since the Battle of Arendelle, Kristoff had a hard time going anywhere without a crowd appearing around him. He was too good-natured to refuse to talk to anyone, which only encouraged them. Anna watched in amused toleration until she noticed how much of the crowd was made up of young ladies. Then she walked over and worked her way through the crowd until she could get her arms around him. He gave her a relieved look and excused himself. Anna was petty enough to flash a smile at the disappointed girls as she walked away with him.

"Merry Christmas," Kristoff told her.

"Merry Christmas to you too," Anna replied. "Are you helping distribute grain?"

"No, they've got plenty of volunteers. There's actually something really important I need to tell you," Kristoff said. "But we can stay at the Christmas party for a while if you want."

Sheer joy shot through Anna's heart. Tyra wasn't the only one who was going to have something wonderful happen today! "We don't have to stay at the party, Kristoff. We can go right now," Anna said.

Elsa came down the gazebo stairs and rejoined them.

"Kristoff and I were just leaving," Anna told her. "Will you two be all right without us?"

Bern tried to give her a look of exasperation without Elsa noticing.

"Yes, I suppose we'll stay and make sure everything goes smoothly with the grain," Elsa said as Olaf bounced up, sucking on a candy cane.

Anna pulled Kristoff around and waved good-bye at them all. Bern looked pensive; Elsa looked uncomfortable; Kristoff looked nervous. That was all right. She could be excited enough for all four of them!

When Olaf started to follow them, Bern called him back. Anna turned to smile thanks at Bern for giving them some time alone. Her heart leaped with joy when he winked at her. Surely he knew what this conversation was about.


	4. Chapter 4 - A Christmas Concert

**Chapter 4 – A Christmas Concert**

Bern was studying the three child-sized snow castles on the edge of the Village Green. Children buzzed around them like bees at a hive. "I would have loved one of those twenty years ago."

"Me too," Elsa admitted.

"Bern, can I have some money for more candy?" Olaf asked.

Bern pulled out a coin pouch as Elsa asked Olaf where he'd gotten the money for the first stick of candy.

"She just gave it to me," Olaf said. "She said I'd have to pay for the next one, though." He took the penny Bern handed him and ran off.

"Could I get you a mug of hot chocolate and something for lunch?" Bern offered.

Elsa hesitated, and then thought it would be unfriendly to refuse. "I'd love that, thank you. All this fresh air has given me an appetite."

It made Elsa self-conscious when the entire line cleared out for her to be served first, and then two villagers got up from their table and insisted she take their place, but there was no way to refuse them either. She ended up on a woven wicker chair with a paper full of fried fish and potatoes. Bern set down a mug of hot chocolate in front of her and joined her. Elsa slipped her gloves into her pocket and started to eat.

She had already swallowed several bites before she noticed Bern was blowing on his food and waiting for it to cool. "It's hot?"

"Well, yes," Bern said.

Elsa nodded, thought a minute, then decided there was no reason to pretend the heat bothered her. Bern already knew it didn't. She took another bite. "I'd offer to cool your drink for you, but I might turn it into chocolate ice."

Bern managed a short laugh.

She looked around the Village Green and thought that if Bern wasn't here, she'd be standing awkwardly alone somewhere, hoping for Olaf to join her. Or Anna would have turned down Kristoff's request for a private conversation to provide company for her. Or she'd be straining to talk to people she didn't know. She owed Bern for his kindness today, as well as every other day. If only he didn't love her. She hadn't asked for that. She rubbed crumbs off her fingers with the paper. His feelings for her gave her a power over him that she didn't want, and that she could unwittingly use to hurt him. It was similar to her power over ice and snow, which she also didn't want, and which could also hurt people. Still, she'd learned that whether she wanted those powers or not, she had them and she was responsible for what she did with them. If only she could think of something to say to him that didn't involve official government business.

The villager who had been playing the flute in the gazebo approached them. She wore a holly sprig on a gray cloak, with a red knitted hat pulled down over her ears. With a deep curtsy, she said, "Your Majesty, Lord Councilor, I beg your pardon at the interruption. May I make a request?"

"Certainly," Elsa replied.

The woman turned to Bern. "Would you help us accompany the singing when it begins? Our second violinist needs to take care of a family matter."

"With her Majesty's indulgence," Bern said.

"Of course, Bern, I would love to hear you play," Elsa said. It would be less awkward than sitting with him without any conversation.

"Your solo on the piano last night brought me to tears, Lord Councilor," the flutist said.

Elsa looked a question.

"I played before the Christmas Eve Mass at the village church," Bern explained. "Alan and Charlotte invited me to worship with them, and the choir director is a longtime friend."

"You play the violin and the piano?" Elsa asked him, relieved to finally have a topic for conversation.

"Yes, and that's all," he said. "I'm a miserable failure on the wind instruments, and can only stagger along at percussion."

"He has a good singing voice too," the flutist added.

"It can't compare to her Majesty's voice, of course," Bern said. "I believe you were holding back at services this morning, but I heard enough to know that I want to hear you sing."

Elsa only smiled in reply, but made no promises. After the flutist curtsied and left, they made small talk about music until people began gathering for the singing.

Lord Councilor Alan and Lady Charlotte found them before the singing began. Alan was her only councilor who lived in Arendelle Village and she was relieved that she would be able to sit with someone she knew. There were handshakes and hugs all around as Alan announced that their family had news to celebrate today. "Our oldest son is speaking to his intended right now. We hope to have an engagement by the end of the day."

"What a marvelous Christmas gift!" Bern exclaimed, giving Charlotte a hug. "Zander is a fine young man. Is Tyra the lucky lady?"

"Yes, how did you know?" Alan asked.

"Princess Anna unintentionally introduced them to each other during the Battle of Arendelle," Bern said. "I got to watch the whole thing. I've known Tyra since she started selling flowers in the marketplace. She's a charming young lady, very talented."

Elsa and Councilor Alan's family ended up on the first row as the music began. There were four musicians playing in the gazebo, and the enthusiastic singing from the crowd drowned them out. One Christmas carol would end, and people would call out the next request.

After several songs, Zander and Tyra appeared. The happiness on their faces made any further announcement unnecessary. Zander sat down on the only remaining vacant chair in the row and pulled Tyra onto his lap.

Their happiness was contagious, and Elsa forgot to hold down her voice during the next song. The musicians were playing "I Saw Three Ships" at such a fast tempo that she needed to pay attention to her phrasing and breathing and she forgot to pay attention to her volume. Elsa didn't notice as others faded out around her and turned to look at her. Elsa was watching Bern's fingers on the neck of his violin, which were dancing with the tempo as his bow flew over the strings. She paid no attention to the other musicians. Her focus narrowed to his violin as her voice flew to keep up with the pace he was setting. As they reached the end of the song together, applause rose from the crowd.

"Our queen is a songbird," Lady Charlotte said. "You must solo for us."

"Oh no, I couldn't," Elsa protested.

But the request started to echo through the crowd and it became more awkward to refuse than to agree to sing. She joined the musicians on the gazebo platform next to Bern. She looked at him in confusion and he returned a smile.

"Do you have something you would like to sing?" he asked her.

"I know the words to 'Joy to the World,'" Elsa said.

He played a note to give her the pitch. "You sing, I'll follow. Close your eyes if it makes you nervous to see so many people."

Elsa closed her eyes. From the instant she hit the high opening note, the music swept her away. She'd always loved to sing. It was something she could do without her hands, and father had consented to voice lessons. Of course she had never sung in public before. But like the ice and snow, as soon as she let it go, the music poured from her with an intensity that wasn't entirely under her control. Her voice twined around the notes from Bern's violin as he matched her music. The joy of it rang down her body and she raised her hands and threw her head back because the music wanted her to. As she held the last note, she opened her eyes and saw an entire crowd of enthralled people staring back at her.

She acknowledged the applause with a wave and a smile, making her way towards the stairs until the crowd started calling, 'encore!'

"Come back, Elsa," Bern said quietly.

The original violinist returned to the gazebo, freed from whatever family obligation had delayed his arrival, and accepted the violin from Bern.

"Do you know 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen?'" the violinist asked.

Elsa nodded.

"It makes a fine duet," the flutist added.

Bern gave the flutist a sharp look, but there wasn't time for him to exit the gazebo as the musicians immediately began to play and Elsa sang. Bern sang counterpoint, coming in a measure after her in the harmony line.

Baritone, Elsa decided, which wasn't a surprise given his speaking voice. What did surprise her was how much fun it was to sing with someone else. Bern couldn't match her in intensity or volume, but he stayed on key, his voice supporting hers and giving her someone to sing back to. As he echoed the lyrics 'comfort and joy' she found herself singing directly to him as the song turned into a collaboration as entertaining for her as it was for their audience.

As they reached the last repetition of the chorus, the musicians slowed the tempo and drew out the last note. Bern ran out of breath first. When Elsa and the musicians ended, the applause exploded.

Elsa didn't wait long enough for anyone to call for an encore, but ran down the gazebo stairs. It wasn't until Councilor Alan shooed away a younger son to free up a second chair that she realized Bern had come with her and was now sitting next to her. From all around them came a flood of comments and compliments.

As the crowd joined in on the next carol, Bern said, "Please let me tell you how beautifully you sing."

Elsa gave him a real smile, still overflowing with the joy of music. "I've never sung with anyone else before. Are duets always that much fun?"

"It depends on your partner," Bern said.

"Then we must sing together again," Elsa said, and she meant it.

Bern's laugh caught in his throat. Still depending on the noise of the crowd for privacy, Bern said, "Elsa, I'm so sorry I've made things awkward between us."

"But it wasn't you at all. I'm the one who has made things so awkward. I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything at all." Elsa bit her lip as she realized something. "It's exactly what I did to Anna all those years."

"May we speak frankly? Not here, of course, but soon," Bern asked.

"Of course we can," Elsa said. The thought floated across her mind that she would be expected to marry at some point. Her father wasn't alive to insist on the marriage he'd tried to arrange before his death, and her councilors didn't have the authority, but there would still be pressures and expectations until she married someone. Even if she didn't love him, a marriage to Bern would be a better alternative than a political marriage to someone else she didn't love. And then she was ashamed of herself for thinking to use her power over him so selfishly. She didn't know if it would be worse to lead him on and give him false hope, or to shut him down and freeze him out entirely.

There was no happy ending to this dilemma of hers, but there was music. Elsa pushed all such thoughts out of her mind and sang Christmas carols with the villagers.


	5. Chapter 5 - A Christmas Proposal

**Chapter 5 – A Christmas Proposal**

Getting away from the Village Green was even more difficult than getting to the Village Green. Now that Kristoff had Anna on his arm, twice as many people came up to talk to them. As soon as they stopped, more people came. There were lots of warm holiday wishes, expressions of admiration, hints about a royal wedding, and other comments that were too personal for any response but an astonished look. It seemed their personal lives were now public property. Anna had spent her childhood inside the castle gates while Kristoff had spent his childhood roaming a mountain, and both of them were struggling in their new role as Arendelle's most well-known and well-liked couple.

That was unsettling enough, but the people who didn't want them to be a couple were even more disturbing. Kristoff had no idea how to respond when young ladies would come up and gush, like this one was doing now. He'd done nothing but say, 'uh,' and she had turned it into an entire conversation even though Anna was standing right there next to him with both hands wrapped around his arm, giving the young lady a puzzled look.

"And then I said he could try all he wants, he'd never be able to hold a candle to you!" she ended as she related an anecdote to Kristoff.

What was he supposed to say to that? Kristoff tried to look polite and shoot Anna a desperate look at the same time.

"That's very nice of him," Anna ventured, turning that puzzled look on Kristoff. She looked a bit sad, and suddenly he wondered if she thought he liked this sort of attention.

"You know, miss, I really don't need him to give me a candle. Thanks anyway," Kristoff said, and turned to go, ignoring her as she tried to continue the one-sided conversation. He walked quickly and purposefully away from the party, hoping he looked like he didn't want to stop and talk to anyone. Within a few minutes he'd gotten them around the corner of the townhouses and into an empty street where they could be alone for a few minutes.

"When is that going to stop happening?" he demanded.

"It's just that you're drop dead handsome and the famous hero of Arendelle. Who wouldn't want to talk to you?" Anna replied, and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'd talk to you every minute of every day, if only I could."

He put an arm around her shoulders and tipped her chin up, hoping that he could get that wistful look out of her eyes and replace it with happiness.

People came into the street.

Kristoff led Anna away from them, but that led them into another group of people.

"Hello, Guardsman Kristoff! May I introduce you to my sister and her family who are in town for the Christmas holiday?" a man he had never seen before asked Kristoff. It quickly became clear that the purpose for the introduction was the pretty blonde girl in her late teens who had no idea what to say to him. She smiled at him nervously, looking at her mother for instructions.

Kristoff didn't want to be rude, but he looked from the blonde girl to Anna and realized he was worrying about the wrong person's feelings. Anna mattered more, even if it was awkward for him to end a conversation. "Merry Christmas. It was nice to meet you, but we have to be going," Kristoff said. Without waiting for a reply, he walked away.

"Did you want to talk to her? Why do they do that when I'm standing right there?" Anna asked, walking away with him.

"No, I didn't want to talk to her. It's just that they don't think a commoner like me has a chance at marrying a princess, even if I am a war hero," Kristoff said. "They think you're just flirting with me, and they'll swoop in once you've broken my heart and left me for a prince."

Anna stared at him. "Where did you get that awful idea?"

"From them," Kristoff said with a shrug. "They're not all that obvious about it, but two of them so far have come right out and said that. I'm supposed to come court their daughters as soon as your betrothal to a real prince is announced."

"Wait, what?!"

"I'm averaging a courtship proposal a week when I'm in town, although I got hit with two on the same day after I'd been gone for those three weeks in November," Kristoff confessed.

"Girls are asking you to marry them?!"

"No, that would be indecent. Their fathers are asking me to court their daughters," Kristoff said. "And it's given me a better understanding of you, and why you need me so much."

Anna swallowed back whatever she had planned to say and asked what on earth he meant by that last comment.

"For a while, I felt guilty that I'd insisted on being part of your life. I thought that I should get out of your way and let you marry a prince. But that would be like what's happening to me. These girls don't know me; they've never even talked to me. They just like the idea of a hero, and their families are trying to gain some advantage by matching us up. That's what happens to princesses isn't it? Some prince you don't even know proposes marriage because it would be good for the kingdom. Prince Hans didn't care about you; he cared about your rank. There's a lot of others like him, aren't there?" Kristoff said.

Anna nodded, her blue eyes wide.

"So you need me. I know who you are, and I don't care whether or not you're a princess. You're this amazing, beautiful, funny, smart girl named Anna, and it's just a coincidence you're a princess. I'd love you just the same even if you were a scullery maid. And I'm the only man on earth on who can say that," Kristoff said.

"Sometimes I think you're wonderful, and then you turn out to be even more wonderful than I thought. I never thought I would be able to explain that to you," Anna said. She was blinking at tears, but one escaped down her cheek.

He wiped the tear away with his thumb, brushing his fingers down her cheek. "You probably never could have explained it to me, but once it started happening to me, I figured it out."

"Do you need me back?" Anna asked.

A group of people who were approaching them thought better of it and veered off.

"Of course I do. Same reason. You know me and they don't. We're the only option for each other," Kristoff said.

Anna let go of his arm long enough to smack it. "That sounds terrible! I prefer to say that we're perfect for each other."

Kristoff smiled at her, catching her hand and putting it back through his arm. "You've got a way with words. Yes, we're perfect for each other. And you'll never have to marry a prince, you lucky lady."

"You keep getting closer to the question without actually asking it," Anna pointed out.

"Come with me," Kristoff said, guiding her back towards the Village Green. He'd just had the most marvelous idea to take care of this problem once and for all.

As they got within earshot of the Village Green, they could hear the crowd enthusiastically singing Christmas carols. Anna joined in as they got closer, her soaring soprano picking up the melody and sending it ringing over the Green. Kristoff sang along too, twirling Anna in a circle and forgetting the words.

Kristoff led Anna around the edge of the crowd towards the gazebo where the musicians were taking requests. He caught sight of Bern and Elsa seated in the front row. They were singing along with the crowd. Elsa looked happy, and Bern looked less unhappy than he had this morning. The musicians were winding down a carol. He knew the trumpet player, a cooper who had treated him decently even before he was famous. He waved to get his attention, then left Anna briefly as he ran up to the gazebo and hung over the railing for a hasty conversation in the silence.

All four musicians leaned in and agreed.

As Kristoff dashed back to Anna, the trumpet player blew a fanfare and shouted for the crowd's attention. The crowd fell silent as Kristoff took Anna's hand and led her to the cleared area in front of the gazebo. He fumbled for the velvet bag in his pocket and went down on one knee in the packed snow. A chorus of "oohhhs" rose from the crowd. Anna put her hands to her mouth and started to cry.

"Don't cry yet," Kristoff whispered.

"Just ask the question!"

"Anna, I've never been able to say enough about how much I love you, but I'd love to spend the rest of my life trying. Will you marry me?" Kristoff fished the ring out of the bag and held it up for her.

Anna nodded, still crying.

"You have to say yes. Nodding doesn't count," Kristoff said under his breath.

"Yes," Anna said softly.

He stayed down on his knee. "What? I can't hear you."

"Yes! I'll marry you!" Anna shouted.

He stood up, slipped the ring onto her finger and pulled her in for a long kiss to the applause and whistles of the crowd. The musicians broke into the wedding march. He should have expected that, but it still made him laugh. Then the crowd surged forward with congratulations, and he should have expected that too, but he hadn't. Then Bern was pounding him on the back while Anna got hugged by Tyra and Elsa at the same time. People grabbed his hand and shook it and he had no idea who they were because the crowd was so thick he couldn't see as far away as his hand anymore.

Councilor Alan shook him by the shoulders, so excited for him, and said something about his son being engaged to Tyra. Kristoff managed to look over and saw a ring on Tyra's hand too; she was waving it in the air to show Anna. He pulled his hand away from whomever was currently congratulating him and caught Tyra's shoulder and turned her around from where she and Anna were now jumping and squealing in unison. "Really?" he asked her.

"Zander!" Tyra replied, flushed with excitement as brightly as Anna.

Alan's son, Zander, was shrugging and looking equal parts sheepish and excited; Kristoff shook his hand and congratulated him. Then Elsa was shedding tears and she actually kissed his cheek and hugged him. There was so much happiness and excitement coming at him from every direction that he couldn't follow a word anyone was saying and it didn't seem to matter. What mattered was watching Anna as her eyes sparkled as brightly as the ring on her finger.

The musicians launched into dance music. Kristoff got to dance once with Anna, then she was swept away by other men. He danced with Tyra, got turned down by Elsa, and decided he didn't need to stay here and watch Anna dance with everyone else. He cut in and spun her away.

"Can I say something not one bit romantic?" she asked him.

"Sure!"

"I'm hungry."

Kristoff waltzed her over to the foodsellers and bought them both lunch. Anna somehow managed to eat and accept even more congratulations at the same time. Kristoff gave up on socializing and put away two helpings of cheese with fried crisp bread, dried apples, plum pudding and hot chocolate, nodding occasionally at people when it seemed necessary.

Anna set down her hot chocolate mug and said, "I've been looking forward to this party for weeks, but honestly, all I want to do is talk to you, not everyone else. Do you want to stay much longer?"

"We're out of here," he replied, returning the mugs to a washtub and offering Anna his arm. They only got stopped another dozen times on their way out of the Village Green and through the marketplace. The crowds stopped following them when they got to the castle causeway.

Anna had both hands wrapped around his arm, and was trying to lean her head on his shoulder and walk at the same time. That wasn't working out very well. "Kristoff, when did you fall in love with me? Because it wasn't love at first sight!"

That made him laugh. At first sight, Anna had been only a demanding interruption to his life. "It was when you were trying to climb a cliff to get to Elsa, even though you had no idea how to climb a cliff. I was trying to remain skeptical about you, but I was totally blown over at what you were willing to do if you loved someone and wanted to help them. I knew I'd never loved anyone like that," Kristoff said. "Then you dropped into my arms."

"That's when you started to love me?" Anna asked, giving up on trying to cuddle and walk at the same time and going back to bouncing alongside him.

"Started to, yes. The feeling got stronger every time I was around you," Kristoff said. "I can't imagine how much I'm going to love you in fifty years if I keep up this pace of loving you more every time I see you."

Anna sighed happily. "Do you want to know when I started to love you?"

"Sure do."

"When you were worrying about what I'd think of your family. Up until then, you were this condescending know-it-all who thought I was silly, like you never got nervous or worried or made mistakes. I thought you were crazy for a few minutes when you started talking to rocks, but then I went back to liking you when it turned out that you really did need to worry about what I thought of your family!" Anna said.

"They were embarrassing!"

"I know! And it was so cute to watch you be embarrassed! I don't want them to treat you like that anymore, though."

"Olaf already took care of that for you. They're not jerking me around as much," Kristoff said.

"Good for Olaf!" Anna said.

Kristoff watched her bouncing along next to him and marveled at her beauty and excitement. It occurred to him that he'd loved her long before he met her. Some of the other ice harvesters dropped in on women who let them have what they wanted as long as they paid for it. He'd been invited along, but turned them down and shrugged off their jeers. It seemed so coarse and ugly. While it hadn't always been easy to say 'no,' he was thoroughly grateful he'd been faithful to Anna even before he'd met her. He had no dalliances to hide from her.

He told her that, and made her cry again. They'd reached the castle by then, and he stopped in the courtyard. He took her face in his hands and brushed away tears with his thumbs before bending to her soft lips. She clung to his cloak, then wrapped her arms around his waist.

After the kiss, she sighed happily. "I love you even more now."

"Anna my love, there is still a problem I need to talk about with you," Kristoff said, getting the door for her.

She shook her finger his face. "You can't get out of this now! You proposed to me in front of the entire village!"

With a stab of misgiving, he thought that maybe he should have talked to her about this first. Now she was trapped in the engagement; no girl's reputation could weather two broken engagements. He gave himself a mental shake and remembered that he should stop underestimating Anna and her ability to love.

~###~

Anna was so excited to be engaged to Kristoff that she kept alternating between laughing and crying. Right now, she was laughing. There was a receiving parlor across from the ballroom, and Kristoff led her in there. The afternoon sunshine streamed brightly through the windows, but the room was cold. Fortunately, the servants had left a fire laid and ready. Anna sat down on the couch and tucked her feet up under her, pulling her cloak tightly around her while Kristoff lit the fire and adjusted the chimney damper before coming to sit by her. She leaned against him and he put his arm around her.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"It's about me leaving so much," Kristoff said.

"Well, now that we're getting married, you don't have to leave as much!" Anna announced. Zander could be home every night for Tyra. Surely Kristoff loved her that much.

He was silent for a few minutes, then he changed the subject. "Did you like Bishop Saholt's sermon this morning? I really liked it when he said some people have a fear of success. Before that, I'd wondered if I was the only one. What were you thinking about?"

Anna paused at asking how on earth anyone could be afraid of success and answered his question instead. "I'm most afraid of not being needed, like being on the other side of Elsa's closed door again. I want to help people when I love them."

He nodded. "I thought that would be your deepest fear. Anna, I need you, I really do. But sometimes I need to leave too."

"Ice is your life," Anna reminded him in a small voice. She untucked her feet and sat up straight.

"No, it isn't anymore. Ice used to be my life. Now, you're my life," Kristoff said, trying to get her to look at him.

"But you leave. Even if you don't have to leave, you want to leave," Anna accused him, keeping her chin down.

"Anna, when I watched you try and climb that cliff to get to Elsa, I was wishing someone loved me as much as you loved Elsa. Love is so natural for you. You can sacrifice anything for anyone. I'm still trying to catch up to you; I want to love you that much. Some things are easy for me – I can rescue you, set off an avalanche, or stop an army for you. But talking about things is harder for me," Kristoff said.

"Elsa says you're isolated," Anna said, fidgeting with her green skirt.

Kristoff blew out a long sigh. "Elsa's right. I'm trying to climb a cliff right now to get to you, Anna. This is hard, and I don't know where to put my feet. They're probably going to end up in my mouth."

Anna played with the ring on her hand and decided to tolerate his effort even though she knew she was going to hate what he had to say. "All right. You talk. I won't interrupt."

Kristoff nodded, and took one of her braids in his hand and rubbed it with his thumb. "I know what it feels like to be afraid of success. And sometimes I can't breathe very well."

Anna kept her eyes on her beautiful ring as Kristoff talked out his worry about peoples' expectations, the fear that he would eventually let everyone down, the trouble he had breathing, and how ashamed he got when he lost control and said things that caused problems. He told her about what Bern had said this morning about how it was thinking, not breathing, that was the problem. He described what it felt like to work until he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion and then woke up without feeling rested. He confessed it had gotten worse now that he was trying to be around people more often.

And all the time he talked, Anna felt something else creeping into her heart, edging out the hurt and annoyance she felt when Kristoff left again. Strength was flowing into her love for him, assuring her that his departures weren't about a lack of love for her, and that she could let him go without being afraid for their relationship. That was her deepest fear about Kristoff's departures – that he didn't need her if he could leave, and so she tried to hold on harder. The strength that always marked true love for Anna broke through her point of deepest fear and gave her enough trust to let go of Kristoff when he needed her to let go.

"Does any of that make sense?" Kristoff finally asked, and then fell silent, waiting for her judgment.

"No, but I can accept it anyway. Please do tell me when you leave, though. It's so embarrassing to find out from someone else," Anna said. She kissed her fingertips and pressed them to his cheek.

He stared at her, dumbfounded. "You're not angry?"

She was happy to have this Christmas gift to give him. "No, I'm not angry. Do you remember something else Bishop Saholt said this morning? Perfect love includes perfect acceptance. I can accept that you need to leave sometimes. Thank you for telling me why."

She startled tears out of him. He gave an awkward laugh and tried to brush them away before she could see them, but she caught his hand and wiped away the tears herself. Then she pulled his head down to her shoulder, leaning back against the arm of the couch so she had room to hold him. His strong arms went tightly around her and he started to shake. He was crying. She'd never seen him cry before, and it just made her love him more to know that he trusted her enough to cry. Sometimes the princess gets to rescue the hero.

Anna let her thoughts compare Kristoff to Zander. Zander had been raised by a loving mother, with a good father who came home every night and taught him a trade. He'd never gone hungry or had to wonder if anyone loved him. Zander was going to be a wonderful husband and father because he was going to do exactly what he'd watched his own father do. Kristoff had watched his entire family die, then been locked out by the only relatives he had left. He hadn't starved only because a reindeer was willing to share carrots with him. The trolls had done their best to love him without really understanding humans. He'd apprenticed himself to the most physically strenuous trade in Arendelle and won a place for himself. Of course he was going to struggle; his whole life had been a struggle. Anna pressed Kristoff's head against her heartbeat and sent a silent prayer heavenward. _Thank you for this man, God. And thank you for giving me the strength to love him._


	6. Chapter 6 - A Christmas Dance

**Chapter 6 – A Christmas Dance**

Elsa watched from the sidelines as the villagers danced in the gathering twilight of a winter afternoon, thinking happy thoughts about Anna and Kristoff. It wasn't like Kristoff to grandstand like that, but it had certainly added to the general joy of the day. She almost wished she'd accepted Kristoff's invitation to dance, but of course that was impossible. Even if she wanted to dance, she didn't know how and was too embarrassed to admit it. Singing lessons had been permissible for someone like her; dancing lessons most certainly were not.

Bern swirled through a dance pattern with Lady Charlotte as Lord Alan danced with his daughter, Sophronia. Her eyes wandered over these people, her people. She'd always felt the burden of responsibility as their monarch; today she'd felt some of the joy of being part of their community. She was absolutely sure that some of them liked her. And so it was enough to be here today. She'd talked to people, created snow castles for the children, given everyone in Arendelle a sack of grain, purchased a tapestry that would always remind her of summer, watched her sister get engaged, and sung her heart out. Christmas had been wonderful.

As twilight fell, people began going home, carrying sleepy children, stopping for one last mug of hot chocolate, calling out farewells to friends. Those who had come down the mountain from hamlets and hollows hitched up sleds to horses and glided off to the accompaniment of jingle bells on the harnesses. As the musicians announced that this next number would be the last dance, Bern came over and offered to walk her back to the castle. Dozens of people watched them as she laid her hand on Bern's arm, but they were not accosted like Kristoff and Anna.

Olaf ran ahead of them as they walked back through the stone arch towards the causeway. He dropped on the ground next to the cleared paths and rolled himself up into an enormous snowball. Then he shook himself off, laughed, and did it again.

"Bern, with your musical talent, why are you my Councilor over Economic Affairs rather than a musician like the ones you played with today?" Elsa asked.

"They're not professional musicians either, Elsa. The flutist is also a dressmaker. The man on the violin owns a dry goods store. The other violinist is a private tutor. And the trumpet player is a cooper," Bern said.

"Oh! Do you know everyone in Arendelle Village?"

"Not quite, but close. I've tried to meet everyone involved in the economy, which is nearly everyone."

"Did you know them before you became a councilor?" Elsa asked.

"Many of them, yes. I met them because of my father at first, although I spent more time traveling with merchant ships than here in Arendelle up until I was appointed as councilor. Father was giving me more and more responsibility as his health failed and he tried to keep up his duties at the same time. By the time he had his stroke, I'd completely taken over his partnerships in shipping. We felt we were getting cheated by some of our foreign contacts, so I traveled on our merchant ships frequently while father handled things here at home," Bern said.

"How old are you?" Elsa asked, curious about the amount of experience he'd had when she assumed he wasn't much older than she was.

"Twenty-six. I started sailing with our merchant ships at twelve. So I had about ten or twelve years at sea and in foreign ports before I became a councilor. Besides the official business, I liked sailing. I bought a sailboat a few years ago. If you'd like, I could take you sailing this summer."

"Out in the harbor?" Elsa asked. She'd never left dry land.

"Into the fjord, if you're feeling adventurous," Bern replied. "We wouldn't go as far as the North Sea, though."

"I'll think about it," Elsa promised. Sailing!

Something occurred to Elsa that she hadn't thought of before. "How did it affect your business interests when we ceased all trade with Weselton?"

"I took a loss," Bern admitted. "They were our closest partner in trade, and I'd been to their country twice a year before the embargo."

"And yet you voted in favor of the embargo."

"I was at your ice palace, Elsa. I saw you fighting those guards. I can't even imagine what they'd done to you to provoke such a response, and then I saw the one try to fire a crossbow at you. I wouldn't have done business with Weselton again even if Rodmund hadn't proposed an official embargo against them," Bern said.

Elsa looked down and away, wondering what she'd ever done to win such loyalty from him. A thought popped into her head and she let it come out of her mouth, knowing that it meant she'd never be able to shut the door between them again. "Bern, if I ever do fall in love, I want it to be with you."

She met his eyes, and was touched by the hope and vulnerability she saw in them. She wondered what it would be like to run her fingers through the black curls on his forehead and then down his sideburns, which startled her enough that she took her hand off his arm. Then she took his arm again, lest she send the wrong message by letting go.

"Thank you, Elsa. I don't know what else to say. Except if there's anything I can do to help you out with that, please let me know."

She laughed. "Where did you ever learn to be so candid?"

"As a merchant, I developed a dislike for people who said one thing and meant another."

Elsa fell silent, and wondered what someone as honest and transparent as Bern would think of her lifelong mantra to 'conceal, don't feel, don't let it show.' Then she decided to match his candor. "Bern, I've done that most of my life. I let the entire kingdom think I was an invalid rather than admit what I was and what I could do. I kept a door shut between myself and the world. I let nothing show – you should disapprove of me."

"Were you hiding because you wanted to make a profit or because you were afraid?" Bern asked.

"Afraid," Elsa admitted.

"Motives matter. I don't tell people all my darkest secrets either, but it isn't because I want to cheat them," Bern said.

"I have a hard time picturing you with dark secrets," Elsa said, amused.

"I already told you my worst one," Bern said. "I've all but abandoned my parents and my mother hates me."

As secrets go, Bern was right, that was a dark secret, and not one to share frequently. "I'm so sorry about that," Elsa said. "I wish I could help."

"You're helping now," Bern said, and he took the hand she had on his arm and tucked it into his own.

Elsa almost jerked away from him, then took a breath and tried to match his candor a second time. "Bern, that's the reason I've kept the door shut between us these past several weeks."

"What?" he asked, puzzled.

She let go of his arm and pulled her hand away. "I can't do what I watch Anna and Kristoff do. They can't stop holding and kissing each other, and they like it. I just can't do that; I can't touch people or let them touch me."

They were almost at the castle now, and he slowed to a stop while Olaf went rolling through the courtyard. "Is it something about me?"

"No, not at all! I was raised with the idea that if I touched anyone or let anyone touch me, I could destroy them. Part of me knows that isn't true, but whenever there's a chance I might touch someone, my first feeling is fear. Please don't touch me," Elsa said miserably. "And if you want to go find someone more normal, you can. I promise I'll be very happy for you."

"So that's what I did wrong," Bern mused. "It wasn't the conversations, was it?"

Elsa shook her head.

"Well, that's good to know. I was wondering if this conversation was going to cost me another six weeks of distant formality with you," Bern said.

"You could find someone else," Elsa repeated.

"Elsa, do you remember Bishop Saholt's sermon from this morning?" Bern said, ignoring her suggestion again. "What struck you about it?"

Elsa considered. "The idea that God loves and accepts me even though I don't love and accept myself very much. I'd never thought of that before. What about you?"

"When he said God's love breaks through at our point of deepest fear," said Bern.

"That's happened to me already," Elsa said.

"Really? I won't pry if it's too personal," Bern said.

"Oh, I can tell you. I've been so afraid of other people, and yet I've been given a gift of empathy to understand and connect with the people I love. I thought it was Anna's magic at first, because it's so closely connected with Anna. But I think it comes to me directly, not through Anna," Elsa confided.

"You've literally received a gift from God that's transformed your deepest fear?" Bern said wistfully.

Elsa nodded. She hadn't had that peculiar feeling of falling into someone's heart for months now, and not for any people besides Anna and Kristoff. But the wisdom she'd gained in those brief flashes of empathy had shown her the way to strengthen and heal those relationships when they'd faltered. Oddly, the empathy had taught her what their deepest fears were, rather than anything positive. That was strange, now that she thought of it. If you wanted to get to know someone, wouldn't you want to know their strengths, rather than what scared them the most? Except strength is only part of a personality; anyone can conceal, not feel, and not let their deepest fears show – she wasn't the only one that did that. What she'd learned from falling into their hearts was the fears they kept hidden. You didn't really know someone until you knew their fears; you didn't really see their courage until you knew the fears they faced in their hearts. Elsa concluded that the empathy had shown her their strengths after all – she saw their efforts to overcome their fears: Anna's fear of being shut out, and Kristoff's fear of trusting people.

Bern didn't say anything more about deep fears, and Elsa didn't dare pry into something so personal. But her thoughts went wandering towards Bern and what he might fear most.

Bern got the door for her as they entered through the smaller west entrance. The main doors were barred shut today. She wanted him to continue talking about the sermon, but instead he said, "Elsa, would you sing for me if I played?"

"I want to hear you play first," Elsa said. "Queen's orders."

He smiled and conceded.

In the ballroom, Elsa lit the candles on the walls as Bern retrieved music from the musician's alcove and sat down at the piano. He ran a few scales as she borrowed the violinist's chair. Olaf was running races against himself across the ballroom as Bern launched into a concerto by Beethoven.

Elsa had positioned the chair so she could watch both his face and hands as he played. His long fingers danced over the keyboard, with the occasional mistake or faltered tempo because he didn't practice much anymore. But the sheer joy of music came through as he played, pouring out into sound and rhythm.

When Elsa felt God's gift of empathy for Bern, she was already expecting it. The falling sensation opened her soul and she fell into Bern's heart, knowing what she'd already guessed. Bern's greatest fear was rejection. After the way his mother had treated him, he'd come to doubt that any other woman could possibly accept him for who he was. And so he set himself up to fail; he'd set his heart on the most unattainable woman of his acquaintance – the queen who had locked herself away from humanity. God had quite a sense of humor, to let Bern choose the most impossible romance in the kingdom, and then arrange the situation so that he succeeded instead. A sense of inevitability about Bern settled over Elsa, wrapped in a warm blanket of peace. It wasn't love, not yet, but she wasn't ready for love anyway – it was enough to know it was waiting for her, just out of sight.

Bern pounded out the finale on the piano, and Olaf spun a final pirouette before he ended his dance.

"Beautiful," Elsa applauded as Olaf cheered, absorbing this new knowledge about Bern, and the change it would make in their relationship.

"Your turn now," Bern said. "Do you know this one?"

Elsa came to stand behind him as he set out the music for "O Holy Night." When she nodded, he began to play. She let the music flow through her, and her voice filled the ballroom and rang down from the rafters. At the end of the song, both of them let the silence linger a moment.

"Bern, can you teach me to play?" Olaf asked.

That broke the solemnity and they both laughed.

"Certainly, Olaf. We'll play a duet. Here, you play this key right here. Just keep an even tempo. Same key, don't stop." Bern let Olaf practice the tempo, then he started to play around Olaf's twig finger, runs and chords and melody, all wrapped around Olaf's one simple note. After several measures, Elsa recognized Bach. Bern went through the entire song to Olaf's accompaniment.

Elsa applauded when they ended.

Olaf bounced on the bench. "Can I play another one?"

"Try this one," Bern said. He demonstrated a broken chord in a waltz rhythm. "Use your left hand on the low note, and your right hand to press these two keys at the same time." He waited until Olaf figured out how to play the chord with his twig fingers before he walked out to the dance floor and looked back at Elsa. "We aren't going to dance, I promise. I'm just going to show you how to step in time to the music." Bern put his hands behind his back and stood there patiently.

Elsa put her hands behind her back as well and walked out to the dance floor, facing him from about three feet away.

"Like this," Bern said, and counted off the steps as he showed her the box step that formed the foundation of the waltz. "When I step forward, you step back. See? So it's the same step, but the opposite leg. One, two, three, step, two, three, repeat, two, three."

On the third repetition, Elsa began stepping with him, watching his tall black boots closely, brow furrowed in concentration. Her red skirts swung to the steps.

"Don't shift your weight until step three," he gently corrected her. "Step two is just a brush against the floor. Wait for the downbeat and we try it again."

Olaf kept up the broken chord on the piano, using both hands to reach the keys and counting audibly to stay on the rhythm.

"You're doing fine," Bern said. "Now we start to turn in a circle at the same time we're still stepping in a square. Just match what my feet are doing."

Elsa, hands still behind her back just like Bern, followed him as he began to turn them in a circle. To the accompaniment of Olaf's broken chord, Bern waltzed Elsa across the empty dance floor in untouching tandem.


	7. Chapter 7 - A Christmas Feast

**Chapter 7 – A Christmas Feast**

"We're on our own for our Christmas feast tonight," Elsa said as Bern walked with her towards the kitchens in search of something to eat. "Every other year, we've had a huge Christmas feast prepared and hardly anyone to eat it, so I told Gerda to not even worry about leaving us something to eat."

"You know what happens if you don't feed Kristoff, don't you? You're living dangerously, Elsa," Bern told her.

He made her laugh, those bright blue eyes looking up at him, ethereal in their beauty, with that whimsical sprig of holly still decorating her pale braid. He glanced away after only a second, afraid his gaze would linger on her red lips if he looked at her too long. Elsa thought he was candid, but there were some things he knew better than to let show.

"Can I light the fire, Bern?" Olaf asked. When Bern nodded, Olaf struck a match and lit the fire in the fireplace, and then stuck another match into the stove to heat up the pot of hot chocolate.

"I'm not much of a cook, but I can manage toast and cheese," Bern said, taking the toasting forks down from the hooks. "Could you look for bread and cheese?"

Either the toasting forks were too short or the fire was too big for making toast – Bern kept backing away from the fire and turning his head to avoid the heat. Elsa finally took the toasting fork from him. She stepped close to the fire and held the bread over the coals towards the back until the toast was golden, then set it on a plate.

"You really don't feel the fire?" Bern asked.

"No, I don't," Elsa replied, setting another piece of bread on the toasting fork. "Cold has never bothered me either."

"I can feel it!" Olaf said. He stood next to the fire until his face started to droop, then dashed off to a cool corner of the kitchen with his snow flurry and stood there until his snow firmed up. "I love heat!"

Bern looked from one to the other, trying to puzzle something out. Olaf and Elsa were connected; they had similar likes and dislikes, and yet Olaf could feel heat and even start to melt, while Elsa couldn't. He wished she hadn't told him not to touch her, because he wanted to ask if he could take her hand just to see if it was getting hotter from the flames, and she was simply failing to feel it. Suddenly, he realized the danger Elsa was in.

"Let me have the toasting fork, Elsa," he said. Without waiting for a reply, he took it from her and stepped between her and the fire.

She gave him a puzzled look at his brusque behavior, stepping back from the fire to avoid stepping on his feet. Bern stepped back to a more comfortable distance from the fire, which forced Elsa even further away from the flames.

"If you can't feel heat, you don't know where a safe distance is," Bern explained. "You could catch your skirts on fire."

"I couldn't possibly get burned," Elsa said.

"Then let's avoid it for my sake. I would never recover if I had to watch your skirts go up in flames," Bern said. He slid the bread off the toasting fork onto a plate. "You go ahead and eat. I'll deal with the fireplace."

"I told you if we waited long enough, they'd do the cooking," Kristoff said as he and Anna came into the kitchen.

"We wondered if you two would turn up!" Bern greeted them. Kristoff raised his eyebrows and jerked his head towards Elsa, who was hugging Anna and examining her ring. Bern returned a sheepish smile and hoped Kristoff wouldn't say anything embarrassing.

"What a beautiful concert!" Anna said to them. "Bern, I didn't know you played the piano! And listening to Elsa sing gave me goose bumps. Beautiful!"

"Where were you?" Bern asked them.

"In the receiving parlor across from the ballroom," Kristoff said.

"We shall not ask what you were doing in there," Bern said drily.

"We were talking about breathing," Kristoff said primly.

"And your conclusion?" Bern asked.

"It's important, so I should do what I need to do in order to breathe regularly," Kristoff answered, giving Anna a one-armed hug and a look of sheer adoration.

"I shall refrain from saying 'I told you so,'" Bern said.

"And to thank you for that, I won't hit you with another snowball," Kristoff replied.

"I shall refrain from pointing out that there isn't any snow in here," Bern said.

"I could throw Olaf at you," Kristoff replied.

Olaf looked indignant.

"I'm here too, Bern," Elsa said.

"Throw a snowball at him, Elsa," Anna whispered loudly.

Elsa said, "I'm not sure why I would want to throw a snowball at Bern."

"Do you need a reason?" Kristoff asked. "How about pitching one at him for thinking we're going to have toast for Christmas dinner?"

"We did the cooking; we chose the menu," Bern said loftily.

"Fine, I'll do the cooking." Kristoff went to the larder, then the cold room. Sliced ham, plum pudding, lingonberry jam, flatbread, goat cheese, yogurt, eggs, onions, carrots and potatoes piled up on the trestle table. He set two skillets on the stove and cracked eggs into a bowl, adding salt, pepper, cheese and milk before whisking them and adding vegetables. He put them all to work and within thirty minutes, Kristoff had produced Christmas dinner.

"It is nice to have you around," Elsa told him as she piled up a plate of food.

"Thanks."

"Are you going to be around more often now that you're engaged?" Elsa asked him.

"Yes and no," Kristoff said.

"What delightful ambiguity," Elsa replied.

"Yes, I'll be in the castle more often because Gustav wants me to start attending classes with Anna to learn history and work harder on reading and writing. He said he'd talk to Captain Torvin and Lieutenant Moyes about my schedule. I still will be spending time in the mountains though," Kristoff said.

"When did Gustav tell you that?" Anna asked him.

"I went to see him at his estate last week to ask his permission to propose to you," Kristoff said, adding more slices of ham to his plate.

"You did?" Anna said.

"Wow," Kristoff shook his head at the memory.

"Tough conversation?" Bern asked.

"I thought I'd be there an hour. You'll notice I was gone overnight," Kristoff said. "Gustav is thorough. I think it takes less effort to write a trade agreement than to work out what exactly I'm supposed to do as Anna's husband. His son-in-law found me afterwards and put me back together. Apparently, that's just Gustav, and he put them all through that."

Anna giggled.

"And now I'm going to be in classes with him!" Kristoff sighed.

"I get to teach some of those," Bern commented. "Before he left for Christmas, Gustav asked me to pull together some lessons about economics and foreign economies for Anna."

"Doesn't that sound fun," Kristoff said, rolling his eyes.

"It is, actually," Bern said, taking a second helping of fried potatoes and launching into his favorite subject. "Economics is a balancing act. Every contributor is working towards the goal of meeting needs for others, and getting their own needs met. If something gets out of balance, either because there is too much of one thing, or not enough of another, it can send ripples through the economy. Big enough ripples can bring down an entire country. Wars and military endeavors get all the attention from history because they're more dramatic, but countries live and die on economics. Economics is much more important to citizens than an army."

"When you put it that way, it does sound interesting," Kristoff admitted, piling up his plate for a third time.

"Because it's you, I'll start with ice," Bern went on. "Have you ever wondered how that ice you haul affects Arendelle's economy? It's closely tied to agricultural production, especially livestock, because we can't export food without putting it on ice."

"I could upset the economy if I started producing ice for free, couldn't I?" Elsa asked. "It wouldn't just put the ice harvesters out of business. What else would happen, Bern?"

"You wouldn't put us out of business," Kristoff objected. "You'd still need us to haul it, unless you're going to make deliveries yourself. Cutting ice is only part of our job."

"Good point, Kristoff. You're smarter than you look. It will be interesting to see what you do with an education," Bern said. "Delivery is as important as production to a smooth economy. The smoother the economy, the more money changes hands and the more prosperity a country experiences."

"Ack!" Anna cried. "Stop! It's Christmas! If you want prosperity, go make your fortune tomorrow!"

"He's not talking about himself, Anna. If you told Bern where he could find a bushel of diamonds, his only thought would be the good of Arendelle," Kristoff said.

"Oh, please!" Anna said, "unless you're already that wealthy."

"Until my mother devises a plan to disinherit me, yes I am. Olaf, consider yourself thrown at Kristoff. Go jump on his head until he stops talking," Bern said, shooting Kristoff a warning glance.

Elsa gave him a close look. "An anonymous benefactor helped us pay for this grain shipment from Lingarth, and Harold refused to say who it was. Would you know anything about that?"

"Elsa, the point of anonymity is to not know anything about that," Bern replied.

"How can your mother disinherit you? You're an only child," Kristoff said.

"Can I have more jam?" Olaf asked.

"Yes, that's a wonderful idea. Let's talk about jam," Bern said passing Olaf a jar of jam and gratefully changing the subject. "Would anyone like to hear me talk about how jam affects Arendelle's economy? Because we have to import the sugar, which contributes to our trade deficit in foodstuffs."

"I think you've got secrets," Kristoff said.

"I only keep secrets if my motives are good," Bern said. "Let's go back to jam."

"Olaf, didn't you buy some jam today?" Elsa asked. "Where is it?"

"It's gone. I shared it with my friends," Olaf answered, scraping a spoon in the jar of jam.

"Which friends?" Elsa asked him.

"Anyone who wanted jam was my friend," Olaf said, sucking on the spoon.

"I think I can turn that comment into an economics lesson about the elastic nature of demand," Bern said reflectively.

"I'm not only sentient, I'm economic too!" Olaf bragged.

"Kristoff, do you mind if I ask how long you'd been planning such a public proposal?" Elsa asked. "It was such a delightful thing to watch, but I admit I'm a bit surprised that you wanted it to be so public."

At the reminder of the proposal, Anna sighed happily, resting her chin on her hand and gazing at Kristoff.

"I planned it for at least two minutes before I did it," Kristoff said. "There was no place to get any privacy today anyway. Then I thought that if everyone in the village heard Anna say yes to me, I'd stop getting so many proposals myself."

Elsa couldn't help laughing at Kristoff's exasperated expression. Bern got caught between laughing and swallowing and started to choke. He took a swig of hot chocolate to try and get it down, which made it worse because it was too hot.

"Are you going to be all right?" Elsa asked him.

Bern shook his head, still coughing.

Elsa held her hand above Bern's mug of hot chocolate. The steam went from lazily drifting into the air to funneling straight into Elsa's palm. She caught the heat, then turned her hand upward, releasing the steam.

"It's cool now," Elsa told him.

Bern gulped down his drink and managed to stop coughing.

"What did you just do?" Anna asked.

"If I'd simply frozen his mug, then the mug would have been cold but it still would have taken time to work the cold through the drink. What I just did pulled the heat out of the drink itself," Elsa said, looking at her hand in surprise.

"How does that work?" Anna asked.

"Cold isn't really its own sensation," Elsa explained. "It's the absence of heat. Heat can't keep to itself and tolerate a space that isn't hot. It's like water. If there's a channel leading downhill into a pool, the water has to follow it; it can't decide to stay where it is. Cold is like carving out a pool for heat. I focused the cold, and it drew out the heat just like a downhill stream draws the water down. Heat can't stay away from cold any more than water can refuse to flow downhill."

"How long have you known that?" Bern asked her, recovered now.

"I've done it before. It's how I broke the gauntlets that Prince Hans put me in, and I once broke a sword blade by drawing all the heat out – if you draw all the heat out of something, it becomes brittle and breaks easily. I didn't know how to explain it until just now, though," Elsa admitted.

"You stood next to the fire and you didn't put it out," Bern said.

"I wasn't focusing the cold when I was by the fireplace," Elsa replied. "I had to think about doing it."

"It's like you've been noticing for months now, Elsa. If you love someone, you can use your power to help them!" Anna gushed. "Whoops! Did I say that out loud?"

Elsa blushed all the way to her hairline.

"I'm going to wash dishes," Bern announced, hastily scooping up a pile of plates and leaving the table.

"I'm not done eating yet," Kristoff objected.

Bern lifted the sluice gate and the sink filled with water. He filled a basin and put it on the stove to heat. He was blushing as hard as Elsa and hoping he was far enough away from the fire and candles for anyone to notice. Anna brought over the silver, along with an apologetic smile and shrug.

"Things don't seem as frosty as they were earlier," Anna whispered.

"Anna, she's sitting just a few feet away," Bern whispered back.

Anna sighed. "Fine. But just so you know, I want my children to have cousins their same age to play with."

"Anna!" Bern hissed, his ears on fire. "Go kiss Kristoff or something."

"I'm telling Gustav you gave us permission," Anna giggled.

"Get out of here before you get me in any more trouble!"

Anna laughed all the back to the table where she helped Elsa put the food away.

By the time he'd finished the dishes, Bern had regained his composure and dared to join the other three at the table, where Kristoff was still drinking hot chocolate.

Elsa watched Kristoff until she saw him take a mouthful of hot chocolate, and then she said, "We really should go, Bern. They haven't even touched each other for an hour. We should reward their restraint and give them some privacy."

Kristoff dropped his head to the table onto his folded arms, choking and coughing on hot chocolate.

"Elsa!" Anna howled. "I can't believe you said that!"

Elsa chewed on the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. "It's Bern's influence. I'm going to try and be more candid from now on."

"Don't you blame that comment on me!" Bern said to her.

Elsa gave up chewing on her cheek and laughed instead. "Let's go, Bern. Come on, Olaf."

When they were out of earshot of the kitchen, Bern said, "I saw you time that comment to choke Kristoff."

She smiled at him. "Payback for when he nearly choked you."

Bern laughed with her. "Thank you."

"No, thank you, Bern. Thank you for today. And thank you for the grain. There's nothing I would have wanted more this Christmas than to be able to help out my people," Elsa said.

Bern didn't deny it. "Merry Christmas, Elsa."

He bowed and left her at the bottom of the grand staircase, cutting through the ballroom to get to the spiral staircase that was the shortest way to reach the Councilors' wing of the castle. It really had been a very Merry Christmas for him.


	8. Chapter 8 - A Christmas Romance

**Chapter 8 – A Christmas Romance**

After Bern, Elsa and Olaf left, Kristoff finally stopped coughing and laughing. "And you thought she'd try and chaperone us!"

"I know! I really did!" Anna said, coming around the table to put her arms around him. She leaned against his back.

"Get out here where I can hold you," he said, tugging her around front.

She complied. Kristoff was sitting on a high stool, which made him just the right height for her to lean her head on his chest with her arms around his broad shoulders. He hooked his leg around the back of her knees, pulling her off balance so his firm embrace was the only reason she didn't fall over. He bent her body back and his mouth descended on hers. Anna wove her fingers into his hair and held on as she dissolved into his kiss.

When Kristoff finally pulled back, Anna buried her face in his neck and didn't let go. He kept her close, one arm around her waist and the other hand drawing down her braid over and over. "Can I brush out your hair, Anna?"

"My brush is upstairs in my sitting room," Anna answered, lifting her head to answer him.

He gave her a smoky look.

She linked fingers with him and led him up the stairs.

Kristoff left the door to her sitting room ajar, for all the good that would do since the castle was practically deserted. Anna lit the candles in her sitting room while Kristoff put a match to the fire in the fireplace.

"Are you going to make a habit of this?" Anna asked him, just a bit nervous. He was so big and male, and suddenly the idea of him being her husband wasn't a pleasantly distant daydream anymore, but was becoming real. She was so used to him that she sometimes forgot about his size, but with him standing right next to her in the candlelit sitting room, he seemed larger than usual.

"I figure when Gustav gets back, there's going to be a barricade of sharpened stakes between me and your room until the wedding," Kristoff said.

"He has far too many daughters. Maybe I should talk to one of them and see what she did about that barricade of sharp stakes," Anna mused.

"No, you should talk to his sons-in-law about the barricade," Kristoff answered, reaching for her.

Anna laughed, and dodged away from his hands. "Would you mind waiting a minute? This corset has been pinching me all day. I have to get out of it."

"I've been waiting a lot longer than a minute," he said, giving her that smoky look again that made her insides jump. She snatched a nightgown out of her dresser and darted into her bedroom, kicking the door shut and taking a deep breath.

When Anna came back into the sitting room, she firmly shut the door to her bedroom behind her. Kristoff was standing near her dressing table, fingering a hair brush. He'd taken off his necktie, vest and jacket, and was wearing only the shirt, with the top buttons undone. His eyes traveled all the way down her body to her feet in slippers and then back up. Her winter nightgown was calf length and had long sleeves, it fit loosely and had ribbon trim around the scooped neckline.

"You sleep in that?"

She nodded, walking towards him. She didn't stop until she was in his arms and he was kissing her again. His hands stroked down her spine through the thin cloth of her nightgown, making her shiver. Her fingers curled down his shoulders and over his biceps. The cloth of his shirt was smooth under her hands.

After the kiss, she seated herself on the stool by her dressing table. He pulled up another stool behind her, and untied the ribbons at the end of her braids. He threaded his fingers through her tresses, unraveling first one braid, and then the other. Holding her hair in his hands, he ran the hairbrush through it. Anna's thick hair swept down to her waist in ruddy ripples, and Kristoff followed it down with her hairbrush and his hand. After a couple dozen strokes, her hair was coming alive with static, crackling and floating. He stopped brushing and gathered her hair up and buried his face in it.

Anna had noticed some time ago that Kristoff had a thing for her hair. She watched him in the mirror as he rubbed his face against her hair and inhaled its scent. His fingers worked into her hair and massaged her head. She leaned into it, wishing she could get her arms around him. He finally dropped her hair and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back against him while he continued to rub his cheek along her hair. She was aching to kiss him; her hands went to his knees on either side of her and squeezed.

His hand went from her waist-length hair to her waist, tentatively exploring what she felt like without a corset on. His touch over her ribs was gentle, and then he dragged his fingers over her stomach, making her shudder because it tickled. One arm pulled her back even more tightly against him while his other hand caressed her throat and then tipped her chin up and over, pressing her head against his shoulder, kissing her from behind. This wasn't Kristoff's usual firm and friendly kiss; his lips were massaging hers while his fingers trailed down her throat to run along the ribbon in her nightgown's neckline. She shuddered again and tried to twist to get her arms around him.

He responded by sliding his arms around her and picking her up. Within a few steps, he was sitting on the couch with Anna on his lap, then leaning back against the arm of the couch and kicking his feet up, Anna falling against him. Anna pushed herself up on her elbow to kiss him, her hair falling all around. He held still and went back to her hair, which gave her freedom to explore his mouth and his cheek and then trail kisses down his neck. Usually, he took charge of their kisses and she could barely keep up with him. She liked having a chance to do what she wanted. She lingered at the hollow in his throat, hearing his breath coming in short gasps.

His hands were still picking up handfuls of hair, stroking her hair, letting it fall through his fingers. Anna let him continue having a private moment with her hair while she undid the next button on his shirt. Her fingers crept inside and through the curly hair on his chest. She ran her hand down to his stomach and felt his muscles clench. Smiling at his reaction, she dragged her fingers firmly back up his chest. He shuddered.

"You going to let me do that to you?" he whispered.

"On our wedding night," she whispered back. Then she pressed her lips against his chest.

Kristoff jerked up, gasping, and suddenly Anna found herself sitting a cushion away from him while he put his head on his knees, arms folding up over his head. "Yeesh, Anna! If you want to wait until the wedding night, you'll have to take it down a few notches!"

"Me? What about you?" Anna demanded, angry at the sudden shock of not being close to him anymore. It felt almost painful to not be touching him.

He gulped down a few breaths. "You're right, sorry. I've wanted to do that for so long now, and I didn't think my reaction to your reaction would be so strong."

Anna knew one of them should suggest he leave now, but the thought of him getting even further away was making her want to cry. She pulled her knees up to her chin and curled up, rocking back and forth.

When she sensed him getting closer, she shook her head. "If you're going to leave, go now, because if you touch me again, I won't let go of you."

He hesitated.

The shock of the door slamming the rest of the way open made them both jump.

"What are you two doing?" Olaf demanded.

"Well, you're the love expert, Olaf, you figure it out," Kristoff said.

Anna started to giggle hysterically.

"I'm not _that_ kind of love expert," Olaf said in disapproval.

"Want to help Gustav sharpen some stakes, Olaf?" Anna asked through her giggles. She knew that tomorrow morning, she would be glad he'd come in. She wasn't sure what would have happened if he hadn't slammed the door open just then, and in calmer moments she knew she wanted to wait for the wedding night.

Kristoff was buttoning up his shirt. He snagged his jacket and draped the untied necktie around his shoulders. Olaf folded his twig arms and tapped his foot snowball impatiently, waiting for Kristoff to get himself together enough to leave.

Kristoff bent to kiss the top of her head. "Dream of me tonight," he whispered before Olaf shooed him out the door.

She did.

THE END

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**Thanks for reading! And many thanks for the reviews from ConColor44, IndyGirl89, nirnaeth12, wazzy593, ARoseofAmber, and a guest. It helps a lot with motivation when I know people are enjoying these stories. See you around soon with more in this series.**


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